A whole lot of nothing

After getting our family pictures, we met up with the Wilsons and the Morgans at the Ren. Fest.



Addie and Sydney don't see each other as much as they should, but they were still pretty chummy.


Here's a great picture I got of Sydney in one of the fairy homes...


Here's Addie Sue with her Aunt Debbie


Some funny stories and facts about Addie:

She loves to read...still... and has many books memorized. In this picture below, she has lined up all her books from the library in a semi-circle and was reading one at a time.


Addie gets gummy vitamins if she doesn't cry when we rinse her hair in the tub and after she gets her PJs on. She eats them slowly with teeny tiny nibbles to savor them. By the time she's done, her fingers are sticky!

Addie is starting to skip a nap about once a week. She still has to have quiet time in her room, but she just sings and talks the entire time. I'm trying to wear her out in the mornings to avoid situations like these, but some days she just isn't tired enough! :(


I bought Addie some of those little capsules that grow into funny little monsters once they're placed in warm water. Addie and Daddy are watching one of them grow. I couldn't tell you who was more interested!

When Addie is put in time out, she can now answer why she'd been place there. She's very articulate (for a two year old). For example, today I had to put her in time out...when I asked her why she was in time out, she said, "because I throwed the markers and I not going to throw them anymore. I love you. Hug." And off she runs to pick them up.

We had a chance to get together with Sue and Kevin this weekend.

Kalani is too cute for words.


He and Lucas had some tummy time together.


Kalani is a bit puzzled by the big hairy beast laying beside him!!!

Micah got a little bit of Kalani holding time too!

Family photos

We got our family photos taken on Saturday morning. Here's the link:

http://www.alissavoran.com/portraits/hunt

Tell me what you think b/c I'm highly critical of any pictures of myself and am incapable of being objective.

Addie and her boyfriends

Not that kind of "boyfriend"...just boys that are friends! She's only 2, you know!

We went to Music with Mar today and met Addie's friend, Kaden. Usually, when we go, it's really crowded and Addie sticks pretty close to my side. Today, most of the three/four year olds were in preschool and Addie and Kaden were go-getters. The class was made of only 5-7 families instead of the usual 15-20...we had a blast.

Here are Addie and Kaden dancing during the "Best Baby in the World" song:


Addie loves the Widemouthed Bullfrog story/song. Here, she and Kaden moved up to get a closer look:


Addie is really good friends with our neighbor boy, Andrew, too! They are so funny together! They seriously have conversations just like little people. One day, I overheard them talking. It went something like this:

Andrew: "You want to go my house?" (pointing to his home)

Addie: "That's not your house!!! That's Margaret's house!" (pointing to Margaret's)

Andrew: "I know."

Addie: "I know."

Not much of a point to it, but it was funny to hear them having their own agenda to talk about instead of just chasing each other and trying to outrun their mommy's.

We have wonderful neighbors, but most of them are all elderly and have been there since the homes were first built. I'm so happy to have a neighbor that is my age with a child Addie's age. We've really enjoyed getting acquainted.

Last night we went to Chuckie Cheese's with them. It was our first time to go--and we actually liked the pizza!

Addie and Andrew had so much fun riding the rollercoaster ride together.


We got a family photo sketched for us by Chuckie himself!!! Check it out:

Home Improvement

Things have been busy lately since I've started back to work. I've been trying to establish contact with all my families in my caseload and I'm trying to work 1 1/2 days instead of 2. We're only putting Addie in childcare on Wednesdays now---which makes me so happy. It will cost less and I'm trying to make better use of my time this year.



Mom came up last week so that she could help me repaint my cabinets. I wish I could say it is done, but I'm not even close. It's a very long process and the house is in chaos. Cooking is not even an option as long as I have not countertops/tables.

Our plan is to put our house on the market in the spring, so I'm trying to get the ball rolling. I repainted the cabinets white and replaced the hardware- something I'd been wanting to do for a long time but didn't have the motivation to do it. I plan on repainting the walls in a more neutral color this winter too, but it was way too much for me to handle at this time.



I'll post before and after pictures when I'm done. I hope I NEVER have to paint cabinets again in my lifetime. The next house we buy better be move in ready. I'm so sick of home improvement projects!!!

Anyway,
Addie and I went to my folk's last weekend and surprised them with a homemade Grandparents day gift. My folks took a picture of us. Addie placed the stones in the cement and we stamped a message to Memaw and Epa on it.



Addie walking walking with her grandparents this morning @ the Legends shopping center.


Taking time to smell the roses...



That's all folks!!!

Have a great week!

Labor Day

We celebrated my mother's 63rd bday this weekend. Addie helped her blow out the candles.





She also tried to take off with Memaw's birthday money!


We also went to Santi-Cali-gon days...but didn't really take any pictures.

On Monday, we followed my folks out to Deanna Rose Farm...so that afterwards, they could head home to Topeka from there. My dad had never been before and I think he enjoyed it.


Addie was timid around the sheep/goats this time.



She eventually warmed up to them.



They have a one room school house that Addie enjoyed playing in. I enjoyed the air conditioning...and my folks reminisced about the days that they went to school in a one room school house.


Ironically, they both went to a tiny school house by the name of Pleasant Ridge (See picture above).


We tried to to get a family shot, but my mom isn't exactly patient with this task. She took our picture before we even knew she'd done it. Her exact words were, "You should be ready when I'm ready." Does that sound like the child of Arthur Tilbury or what?


Addie Sue enjoys playing on her swing set. She's getting quite creative in the way she entertains herself. She stands on the swing, climbs the ropes, holds onto the other swings...you get the picture. I just hope we don't have to visit the ER anytime in the near future because of this girl's rambunctious behavior!

I wish we had the ability to put videos up on the blog. Our little miss is singing the sweetest songs and seems to have pretty good pitch. She's also really into letters. She knows all the letters and their sounds....I'm not kidding. Micah and I were at Lowe's and she told us the letters she saw on a sign (GRATIS- must be a brand name for something) while we were in line.

I would like to take credit for her brilliant little mind, however, I can only admit that I bought a video that taught it to her. Nice huh? Don't knock it 'til you try it. I swear, in less than three weeks, she was prancing around the house singing, "the T says Tuh".

Check it out: (I got it at Costco for $6.99)
Leap Frog's Letter factory

One last picture...

I'm not artsy in any way, but I thought this windmill looked so peaceful at the farm on Monday. It might remind some of you of your good ol' days growing up in Kansas.

Have a great week!

Relaxing Weekend

We went to the City Market this week and caught a flew glimpses of the the KC air show. Epa paid for Addie to ride on the the barrel train...twice!!! She was so happy, she waved to us each time she looked around and saw us near by.



Micah found her in her bedroom like this the other day. She was reading her book, sucking her binkie and relaxing her her sock basket (minus the socks).



Here's our little multi-tasker. She can mow the lawn, hold her baby, & wear a princess dress and heels!


An action shot...


Addie Sue waiting for the train ride to begin.


Memaw and Epa came up to visit this weekend. We went mini-golfing last night and Addie had a blast. She was a really good listener and got off the green when it wasn't her turn. Her form is definitely lacking...I'm sure Tiger Woods will expect much more from his toddler when the time comes. But we thought she did a great job of getting the ball in the hole, despite the number of strokes it took.
My mom beat us all........as always. I swear she must go out and practice on her days off work. lol

Look who's Turned 30!

Micah turned 30 yesterday. To celebrate, he shaved his goatee into a mustache and went to get his license renewed. He's thinking is that he will always look younger in person b/c he looks like he's 40 in his picture. I think it's hilarious!!! He looks like one of those guys off of Super Troopers.



We went out to dinner to Jose Peppers, Micah's favorite Mexican restaurant.

Last weekend, we went to Jenny (Hare) Macfee's wedding reception. She and her hubby, Kevin, got married in the Dominican Republic in June and celebrated with the people who couldn't go in KC. It was an awesome reception....just as I had anticipated. Jenny has great taste. She and Kevin have been living in NYC in the last year. I think they're going to be moving to California very shortly. Ahhh...the life of the MWOK (married without kids).


Me and my very good-looking husband...not very humble am I?


Kelly, Jenny (Beautiful, isn't she?, Carrie F., Carrie E., and me


The group of girls from Graceland:
Corey, Nikki, Kelly, Carrie, Jenny, me, Carrie, Christine (met in NY), Emily, & Julie

Addie turns 2 1/2 this weekend too! I never did get her two year photos so I really need to get my act together.

She's a joy, most days, and ornery some days too.

• she stalls going to bed BIG time now. The following reasons to avoid bedtime are now becoming part of her routine: "I hungry", "I need a drink", "I have to go potty.", "I want to watch a movie.", "Last time, book.", "I need my binkie & lovey.", etc. The list goes on and on.
  

• She's still working on getting her 2 year molars. She's been late getting her teeth all along.

• She opens the fridge and pulls out food on her own.

• She's potty trained, but not "poopy" trained.

• She calls elevators..."alligators".

• She's very gentle with her babies. She cuddles them, pretends to change their diapers and she talks to them like I do to her, "Shh...It's okay. Mommy's got you. I'll kiss it and it will be better, okay?"
  

Graceland Dance Party (Uhm...I mean playdate)

Girls just want to have fun!!!


Zoe (sleeping), Addie, Tessa, Mallory, & Lucy

A bunch of girls from Hanthorne @ Graceland got together for another playdate. Things got a little wild and the kids didn't get their naps on time...but it was worth it. We had a great time!


Addie Sue before the fun began.

The girls put on some of Addie's dress clothes and we danced to Material Girl.


Mallory (Emily's daughter) taking a break!


Zoe (Da's baby) slept through the entire dance sequence!

I didn't get pictures of everyone there. Eli (Amy's baby) was the way out numbered by girls...but he was still in the thick of things.

Kalani (Sue's little guy) practically nursed the entire time...so I didn't get any shots of him either.

All-in-all, we had a good turn out: Kerri and her three girls, Amy & Eli, Emily & Mallory, Sue & Kalani, Da, Lucy & Zoe, MiJean & Guyel (sp), and Addie & me!

We all had a great time!

It's getting Hot out There!

A profile of my sweet baby girl...



Much has happened since my last post. Nothing really exciting, but blog worthy, of course.

First of all, I celebrated my 31st birthday, which is just insane to me. I hear about people that are in their thirties and I think they are older than me, but then I stop and think, "Wait, I'm thirty something too!" I have to shake my head to get that realization out. I don't feel like I'm thirty. I feel like I'm mid-20's still... anyway...

Addie enjoying my ice cream dessert I "earned" at Red Robin. I had to wear balloons and flap my arms like a bird.

My mom and me

Andrew (emptying his plate), Debbie (my SIL), & Micah


After dinner, we went to Costco to walk off our full stomachs. Here's Addie relaxing in the cart. We put a big dog bed underneath her to make it more comfy.

You've probably notice the yellow splint on her arm by now. We failed to mention that Addie had to return to Urgent care only two days after her previous visit to the ER. We're pretty much embarrassed at the frequent trips we took to the doctor on behalf of Addie's health last weekend, so we put off sharing the news about her latest fiasco. Last Saturday evening, we went out to dinner and then stopped by Walmart to return something. As we're standing in line, Micah was letting Addie climb up his legs. When she reached the top, she began crying and holding on to her wrist. We were sure she was just exaggerating so we did some shopping, thinking she would let up. She never did. In fact, she refused to let go of her wrist. So we took her to CM and were almost positive that she must have a broken bone.

To make a long story short. They did an XRay and she has no fracture...maybe some soft tissue damage. We let her wear the splint for 4 days and then took her back to the orthopedic doc to have a look. She didn't see that anything was wrong with the way she was using her arm, but Addie was very unhappy. She cried her heart out and stared at her splint laying in the trash can. The doc gave us a removable splint to use if she continued to persist, but luckily, after her nap, she woke up and never asked for it....and she's been fine since!!!


Micah got me the best birthday gift I've ever received (& his parents contributed too!). I've been saving for one with my Mary Kay money but it was taking me forever. Any guesses on what it is?

A DYSON vacuum cleaner: the top of the line animal model. You might think, "That's not such a great gift! It's a home appliance!" but you couldn't be more wrong. To me, it is my dream machine. I would take this Dyson over a new car at this point in my life. With two big doggies that shed like CRAZY, it seems like I can never get our floor clean...now I can lay face down on the carpet and not be irritated b/c by the sight of dog hair. Don't get me wrong...those dogs are worth every strand of hair, but it's nice to have that hair in trash and not on my floor.


While mom and dad where in town, we went to the spray park. Here's our "burrito baby" with her grandparents.

I just got out of jury duty this afternoon. We waited about 6 hours when they said that the case we'd been assigned to settled out of court. YEAH! I was kind of intrigued by the whole process and wouldn't have minded being assigned, but I really hated the waiting part...and the pay. I made an entire $6.84 today! Whahooo!My dad had stayed an extra day so that he could watch Addie for me and he just took off. I'm so blessed to have people so willing to help out.